Agenda item

This report relates to the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment project including Wisbech to March Rail.  

AGREED to:

·         Subject to the final confirmation from CPCA, confirm the acceptance of £500,000 between 2026 and 2028 from CPCA for FDC to deliver the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment Project.

·         Confirm the establishment of the Project Board to oversee the business case project, confirm the board’s remit, including its terms of reference and membership.

·         Note the procurement exercise to select a contractor to deliver the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment project and give approval for delegated authority to the Portfolio Holder for Transport and the S151 Officer to award the contract.

·         Subject to the final confirmation from CPCA, third party funding has been approved for this work. A Grant Funding Agreement between CPCA and FDC is required. Delegate approval to the Portfolio Holder for Finance and S151 Officer to sign the agreement on behalf of FDC and complete all other documentation necessary to bring this arrangement into effect.

Members considered the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment report presented by Councillor Christy.

Councillor Count said the money will be very welcome as the area is desperate for transport improvements. It is unfortunate that whilst the public would say the biggest improvement would be for the County Council to get potholes fixed, the money cannot be used for that. He would, however, like to seek assurance that this is not going to delay the works relating to the March Area Transport Strategy (MATS). Councillor Chisty said hopefully this  assessment will help the MATS progress, it is a vital part of the overall scheme and will be used to inform that assessment rather than hold it up.

Councillor Tierney said he hopes that Councillor Christy can push this forward but as a long-standing councillor himself, he has seen this many times before. The authority can consult, plan, study and talk about getting funding but projects like the railway or dualling of the A47 will cost multi-millions of pounds for each project and the problem has always been that nobody wants to put their hands in their pockets for money of that level. However, he does support this and just hopes that a change can be made this time.

Councillor Mrs French referred to Councillor Count’s comments about the MATS and said work commenced on the scheme back in 2018. Whilst some of the work has progressed, the work to install traffic lights at Hobbs Lot Bridge has only just started. Unfortunately, county council officers decided to delay the Peas Hill roundabout, but it is in a dreadful state, and with the volume of traffic it needs to be pushed forward again so she would appreciate any help that Councillor Christy can give to progress the MATS.

Councillor Hoy agreed all Fenland needs transport improvements, but she would like to focus on the Wisbech Access Strategy. She finds it frustrating that £10.5m has been spent and yet not a single piece of road has been laid. All that was achieved was an old shop being knocked down that nobody wanted to be knocked down. Without wanting to be too negative, the local plan says none of the broad concept plans for Wisbech will be delivered without the additional road improvements and what infuriates her is that because County will not object to any of the Highways works, FDC cannot turn them down at Planning. She was told that their view is that because the bulk of dwellings will be in Norfolk rather than Fenland, they do not think it will impact on the local roads which she finds incredulous as residents of Elm or Emneth will certainly be using Wisbech services. She is very worried that, whilst appreciating it is not this authority’s money, spending £500,000 on yet another study and more fees for consultants will be wasted at a time when the country has little money.

Councillor Mrs Laws said it is important for Whittlesey to get a southern relief road, not just to assist economic growth in Fenland but because she gets so many calls from frustrated drivers who sit for hours just trying to get to Peterborough. She agreed with Councillor Hoy’s comment about consultant fees, they gain so much money from councils, and she is sure they inflate their prices when they see that is where the money is coming from. However, she applauds Councillor Christy and supports this work and, like many other long-standing councillors who have seen money wasted through nothing coming from it, hopes it works this time. 

Councillor Boden thanked everyone for their comments and said this is somewhat unusual compared to what has been seen before. Fenland is getting a transport economic assessment project, and similar things are also happening in other parts of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, but this project is being devolved and will be controlled by some members of this council and Cabinet. They will be voting members of the project board, so this will be in their hands. It will provide the opportunity to make clear the requirements of Fenland residents, and that the obsession with active travel in some parts of the county is not appropriate here and that the idea that transport policy should be determined by net zero targets is also not appropriate for Fenland. The transport policy will need to be set on transport targets and the narrative from some parts of the county that are anti-car is also inappropriate here, for example any proposals for road charging would be rejected. It gives the opportunity for members of this council and cabinet with voting rights to make abundantly clear what is appropriate for Fenland.

Councillor Christy said he fully appreciates the comments made but would like to reiterate what Councillor Boden has just said; this is now an opportunity for FDC to progress matters in its own way with terms that are suitable for Fenland.

Proposed by Councillor Christy, seconded by Councillor Seaton and AGREED to:

·         Subject to the final confirmation from CPCA, confirm the acceptance of £500,000 between 2026 and 2028 from CPCA for FDC to deliver the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment Project.

·         Confirm the establishment of the Project Board to oversee the business case project, confirm the board’s remit, including its terms of reference and membership.

·         Note the procurement exercise to select a contractor to deliver the Fenland Transport Economic Assessment project and give approval for delegated authority to the Portfolio Holder for Transport and the S151 Officer to award the contract.

·         Subject to the final confirmation from CPCA, third party funding has been approved for this work. A Grant Funding Agreement between CPCA and FDC is required. Delegate approval to the Portfolio Holder for Finance and S151 Officer to sign the agreement on behalf of FDC and complete all other documentation necessary to bring this arrangement into effect.

(Councillors Boden, Christy and Seaton declared that they are Trustees of FACT Community Transport)